1. Field
Advancements in serving requests are needed to provide improvements in one or more of performance, revenue, scalability, efficiency, and utility of use.
2. Related Art
Unless expressly identified as being publicly or well known, mention herein of techniques and concepts, including for context, definitions, or comparison purposes, should not be construed as an admission that such techniques and concepts are previously publicly known or otherwise part of the prior art. All references cited herein (if any), including patents, patent applications, and publications, are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties, whether specifically incorporated or not, for all purposes.
Some web sites, for example some search engines, have a relationship with a response provider where the web site places content provided by the response provider on formatted pages (such as web pages or Wireless Application Protocol pages) that are presented for display. The web site sends a request to the response provider for content. The request includes a list of one or more keywords related to a page to be displayed, and the response provider attempts to provide suitable content matching the keywords. In some cases, the fill rate (the success rate in finding the suitable content) of the response provider is low.
Some content service providers provide hosting for content provided by a client (a content source), enabling the content to be accessible over a network, such as the Internet. For example, the content service provider operates a content server to host the client content, to receive requests (such as in a form of Uniform Resource Locators or URLs) for specific portions of the client content, and to transmit the specific portions of the client content in response to the requests. For the client to participate in revenue for the client content, the client arranges for a response provider to provide suitable additional content to be used with the client content. The client must develop and maintain a business relationship with the response provider, and the revenue is determined in part by the fill rate of the response provider.
Some response providers share revenue with the client based on response statistics. For example, for some response providers that are advertisement (ad) providers, revenue sharing is based on ad statistics. The fill rate (also called the serve-through rate) is the percentage of ad requests that are satisfied (filled) by the ad provider. The click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of delivered ads that are clicked on by a user. Ad revenue and/or ad cost is sometimes measured and/or accrued in cost per mille (thousand) impressions (CPM), which measures revenue and/or cost per thousand delivered ads, or in cost per click (CPC), which measures revenue and/or cost per clicked-through ad. Effective CPM (eCPM) is a measured and/or calculated CPM used, for example, when ad revenue and/or cost are determined on another basis (such as CPC).